Pairing Up
by Pulsar
Summary: After the fall of the Ten Wise Men, one of the members finds himself faced with a difficult decision... Spoilers if you haven't beaten the game at least once!


Matchmaker

I don't own Star Ocean. …Well, I do own the game, but I don't own the rights to the characters. Wish that I did…

Okay, this is a short fic based on one of the endings I got during one of my recent play-throughs of the game. I've been toying with this idea for a bit, and finally decided to give it a whirl. Now, honestly, I'm not all that certain that I have the personalities of the characters down all that well, so forgive me if anybody appears OOC in this… This takes place after the defeat of the final boss, so there are MAJOR spoilers if you haven't finished the game at least once…

Oh, and I used some of my personal favorite couplings in this, so the normal warning goes: if you don't like any of the pairings in this, it's perfectly okay with me. Part of the game's charm for me was that anybody could end up with anyone, and you weren't forced to put up with 'official' couplings that you didn't really agree with. Therefore, I have my preferences, but also recognize that others may not enjoy the same couples, and respect that. Please do not flame me saying that I suck because of this and that 'so-and-so BELONG together', for all that does is make me sorry for you. Thank you.

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It was over. The long, hard struggle with the Ten Wise Men had finally ended. Their threat to the universe had finally been extinguished, and with it had perished an entire race, save three…

Noel Chandler, the last surviving male of his kind, stood in a grassy valley with his battle comrades and gazed up into the sky, allowing this concept to slowly sink into his mind. He was one of the only remaining members of his people, the last male Nedian…he almost smiled at the bitter irony. He, one of the most quiet, unassuming members of his race, he who was a polar opposite to the old, worn out stereotype of what a 'real man' should be, had survived the utter destruction of the majority of his kind…

At first, he could only stand where he had landed, gazing around at the beautiful scenery around him. So this was Expel…he had seen this world before, when they had visited the Virtual Expel that had been created for them, but this…this was completely different. A raw, natural world, one that had not been created through technology or magic… He sighed, breathing in the fresh, cool air.

Looking over at his companions, he saw that they were also enjoying that they had arrived on this breathtaking, natural planet as well, although most of them had a very different reason for celebration than he did. For the majority of their team, this world Expel was their home, and they were simply ecstatic to be back where they belonged…

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…Ironic that just as they regained their home world, others would have to lose theirs…

Noel quickly shook away that dark line of thinking; he was honestly happy for his friends, he was…happy for them…

A soft sigh came to his delicately pointed ears on the wind, and he turned to see one of his companions gazing sadly off towards the sky in a manner similar to the way he had been. Rena…the young woman who had been caught between two worlds, her birth world of Nede and the world where she had been raised, Expel. It seemed unfair that, in order to regain one of her homes, she had been forced to lose another…

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…That tradeoff worked both ways, didn't it? First Expel was destroyed, and in order to bring it back…

As he watched, Rena continued to gaze blankly toward the sky, azure eyes shimmering with emotion. After a few moments, she was joined by another: the young swordsman Ashton approached her slowly, uncertain, wanting to offer comfort but, at the same time, not wanting to intrude on her grief. The two dragons who possessed the fighter appeared to be equally concerned, and Ururun crooned softly, arching its neck toward the girl and cocking its head to one side, quizzically.

Rena looked up at the soft noise, and a small, sad smile appeared on her face. She walked over to the strange trio of fighter and demon dragons in a single body, and lightly brushed Ururun's cheek with one hand. As Noel watched silently, her fingertips then moved to lightly caress Ashton's cheek, and the fighter and healer stared deeply into one another's eyes.

"I'll be alright," Rena whispered softly, as she allowed Ashton to hesitantly embrace her.

A gentle smile touched Noel's lips as he watched the pair find solace in each other's arms: certainly they both would end up all right in the end. The male Nedian knew that what had happened at the end of their quest had deeply scarred all of them, not simply the three survivors of that doomed race: he had seen the stark horror on the faces of the Expelians as they learned what the full price of their victory would be…

The sound of laughter rang out behind him, and Noel turned to see that the young inventor Precis was celebrating their victory. The spunky young teenager had seized the hands of her crush and was currently spinning round and round with him in dizzy circles, cheering and laughing, while her mechanical friend Bo-Bot scampered around the couple on its short legs. Claude, her impromptu dance companion, had the strangest expression on his face: an odd mix of shock, embarrassment and enjoyment. Precis's mood was, as always, rather infectious, and the blonde swordsman was laughing along with the vibrant young girl.

Bemused by this display, Noel was so absorbed in watching the pair celebrate that he didn't notice the soft tread of footsteps behind him. When a hand suddenly gripped his shoulder and gave it a soft squeeze, the normally quiet Nedian nearly yelped with surprise. Whirling around, he found himself staring into a pair of deep blue eyes and a pretty face framed by a shock of dark crimson hair, and relaxed a bit.

"…Chisato," he said quietly, "You…"

"Hush," the red-haired Nedian told him, shaking her head.

She looked away, and Noel wondered why she looked so…not just sad, they had a very good reason to be sad, but…shy? She appeared to be terribly nervous and upset to him, and for a moment he wondered just what would unnerve the ace investigative reporter of the Nede Chronicles…

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…Make that EX-ace investigative reporter of the Nede Chronicles…

The answer hit him at that moment, and though he gave no outward sign of it, Noel found himself cursing silently. It was rather strange for the soft-spoken nature lover to feel like swearing, but he couldn't keep the words from running through his mind at top speed.

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…Of the entire Nedian race, only three are left: one male, and two females, one of which has already found herself hopelessly in love with another…leaving…

Noel almost fainted, collapsing right there in front of Chisato.

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…Why didn't I realize this before? …Was this was Mayor Narl meant when he was telling us that we were the last of the Nedians…? Was…was he attempting to imply…?

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…When a race of animals is threatened with extinction, that typically leads to one thing…forced…forced…

Noel felt his face grow hot, and realized that he was blushing. He quickly mastered the sensation, and when he trusted himself again, looked up to see that Chisato was also blushing faintly. The normally perky redhead's blue eyes were fixed solidly on the ground…

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…Deep, shimmering sapphire pools that you could lose yourself in…

Gasping, feeling his face burn again, Noel quickly glanced away, wanting to see anything but the girl that stood hesitantly before him. However, he quickly realized that this was of no help, for the figure that he found himself staring at served only to sharpen the pain and confusion raging in his mind.

Dias Flac stood away from his other companions, back turned stoically on the scenes playing out all around him. The fighter's long blue hair stirred slightly, caught by the wind, as he stood there, completely alone despite the fact that friends and battle comrades surrounded him.

Turning back toward Chisato, Noel caught her staring over at the longhaired swordsman as well, sadness filling her dark blue eyes…

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…Beautiful eyes, so bright and happy normally…

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…so dark and sorrowful now…

Silently, unable to restrain himself any longer, Noel reached up and brushed Chisato's cheek with the back of his hand. The skin was moist, he noticed: wet with tears. She jerked at his touch, and hastily looked back toward him, then dropped her gaze to the grass beneath her again, the ends of her long, delicately pointed ears appearing to droop slightly with guilt.

"…Noel…I…"

"Chisato…"

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…I love you…

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…I love you, but…

"…I can't stand to see you like this anymore."

"…Noel, I...I…"

"…This isn't you, Chisato. This isn't the girl…"

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…I fell in love with during the journey…

"…that I knew during our battles together…the one who would charge headlong into the fray to help us…"

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…the girl that I healed so many times, that I watched over and protected…

"…Chisato, I want…you to be happy…"

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…not stuck with me because of our bloodlines…

"…and I know that you'll be happier with him."

Chisato stared at him with shock filling her sapphire eyes, the last of her tears trickling down her face. The expression on her face was similar to the one he had glimpsed earlier on Claude: shock, confusion, and…happiness slowly dawning as his soft words sunk in.

"…Noel…"

"…Go to him, Chisato," he replied simply, giving her a gentle shove forward. "I already understand how you feel about him, and that he'll make you happy…"

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…Happier than you would ever be, tied together with me simply to try and prolong the life of a fading race…

Chisato hesitated just a few seconds more, staring back at him with a look of equal sadness and thankfulness on her lovely features, then the red-haired Nedian turned away and walked toward where Dias stood. At first approaching slowly, she soon quickened her pace as she drew nearer, then suddenly broke into a run, and as she embraced the swordsman from behind, Noel slowly turned away.

They would be happy together, he knew: he had seen the way they had acted around each other during their journey. Chisato had become completely smitten with the gifted fighter, and Dias…Noel had sensed how the flame-haired girl had affected the once cold-seeming warrior, helping to warm his heart and bring out more of the emotions he had kept buried for so long. They would be happy…

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…Just like Rena and Ashton would be, just like Claude and Precis…

…and as for him? Well, he was the nature-loving loner, wasn't that right? He had the animals to keep him company…only the animals…

A slender hand squeezed his shoulder again, and Noel looked up to find himself staring into a pair of deep violet eyes, eyes that were filled with understanding and sympathy…

"…Are you okay, Noel?" Celine asked quietly, regarding him shrewdly.

Noel nodded slightly, even as his gaze shifted back toward where Chisato and Dias stood, now locked in one another's arms.

"…I loved her, you know," he admitted quietly, "but I didn't want to…hold her back…"

Celine nodded, understanding. She knew the value of one's own freedom to choose.

"…So, what will you do now?" she queried, cocking her head slightly to one side as she studied his face intently for clues.

Noel shrugged, saying, "I don't really know…I don't really have anywhere to go from here…"

"…Tell you what, I have a great idea," Celine interrupted, a faint smile touching her ruby lips as she tapped the end of her chin with one finger thoughtfully. "I happen to know of an old cabin in the Heraldry Forest that nobody's using…since you like animals so much, maybe you'd be interested…? …If you want, I could talk to the elder of Mars for you. I don't think that he'd disapprove, so I could get you set up there if you wanted…?"

She let the end of her question trail off, and glanced over at Noel. The male Nedian smiled faintly, nodding back at the sorceress.

"…Yes…yes, I think that I'd like that…" 


End file.
